


I'll Gently Rise

by idk_man



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: F/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-08
Updated: 2019-04-02
Packaged: 2019-10-24 13:21:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17705030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idk_man/pseuds/idk_man
Summary: Kate Grimes was a trauma surgeon. She was a calm, cool, and collected woman with steady hands. Kate Grimes was a sister to a deputy sheriff, who constantly made fun of her for spending all her time focused on work and for not having dated since she was 19. Kate was a self-dubbed “cool aunt” to a great kid, who she loved more than 99% of the things in this world.Unfortunately, the entire world decided to fall apart, and Kate Grimes had to become a hell of a lot more than that.***This is a retelling of TWD story from the very beginning. Expect the usual type of thing you see in the show!This is my first time writing literally anything - please bear with me, and let me know if you have any tips!





	1. In the beginning

The day she found out her brother had gotten shot, Kate had already been having a rough day at work. A little boy had been brought in early in her shift who had found his father’s gun, and it hadn’t ended well. Having to tell the boy’s dad was one of the lowest points in her entire career. 

Then, just to add icing to the shit cake that her day had been, she found herself being called to the ambulance bay for an incoming GSW only to see Shane, her cop-brother’s partner, popping out of the ambulance followed by Rick being rolled out on the gurney, not moving. It went a little fuzzy, after that. Kate could remember her scream, vaguely knew her co-workers had told her to leave, that she couldn’t help them. Kate remembered fighting them to get to her brother, remembered Shane having to practically pick her up and carry her away. The words, what was said, the details, they were gone. All Kate could focus on was that her brother, bloody and still, had rolled into her ER.

It’d been a worry of hers since she got the job here. Rick was the only family she really had left. Their parents had died before she finished med school, and she had always been close with her brother. He was five years older than her, but they had been thick as thieves from the beginning. Kate had told him, very specifically, if he ever showed up at her hospital with an injury she’d be supremely pissed off. Rick had promised it wouldn’t happen.

Kate sighed as she finally took in her surroundings for the first time since she’d seen Rick come in. Guess promises don’t always get kept, do they? As she looked around, Kate noticed they had stuck her in the staff lounge. She was on a couch, a cup of coffee on the table in front of her. Kate wrinkled her nose at the mug, grumbling to herself as she picked it up. She had an odd relationship with coffee, she knew – she simultaneously loved it (it had helped her through med school and work and many other things) and hated that she depended on it. Inevitably though, she picked it up and drank it down. 

No one else was in the room. Kate couldn’t quite remember, but she knew in the back of her mind that Shane, her brother’s partner, must’ve gone to get her sister-in-law and her nephew. 

“Kate?” a voice said from the doorway. She looked up to see her boss, Adam, standing there, eyeing her carefully. Adam was always careful. Kate liked him well enough, but they tended to butt heads because of his timidity. 

“Hey, Adam,” she mumbled, placing the now-empty mug back on the table.

Adam came fully into the room, coming to sit beside her on the couch. “You doin’ okay, Kate?”

Kate just stared back at him. Her brother had just been shot. How the hell was she supposed to be okay? She let out a breath, though. Not gonna lose my shit at him right now, she thought to herself. “I’m… fine. Waitin’, I guess. You heard anything?”

Adam shook his head. “They took him into surgery. Johnson is on it, you know he’s the best behind you,” he told her. “Kate, you should change out of your scrubs. You ain’t gonna do any good for anyone else today-“ 

Kate started to protest – like she often did when Adam told her to do something – but Adam beat her to it.

“Your brother is in surgery, Kate. You’re done for today. Go change, and head out to the waiting room,” he said, and Kate grunted. Leave to it Adam to suddenly grow a pair. “Shane will be back with Lori and Carl soon – they’re gonna need you, Kate. You know that.”

That was what got her attention. Carl, Lori – Lori was gonna be a mess. Kate loved the woman her brother had married, but while Lori was strong, she wasn’t going to be able to handle this on her own. Kate knew Lori would need her space to be upset on her own – someone was gonna have to be there for Carl. He was only ten, he wasn’t gonna know how to deal with this. Hell, Kate barely knew how to deal with this.

So, she nodded. Adam seemed to deflate, having been ready for more of a fight. He placed a hand on her shoulder before standing up and quietly saying, “I’ll keep you as updated as I can. You’ll know things as soon as I do, Kate. Promise.”

Then he left. Kate stood up, making her way to the women’s locker room just off the lounge. Opening her locker just made her freeze all over again, though.

When she first got this job, she had taken it upon herself to cover the door of her locker with photos of family and friends. Front and center was a photo of her with Rick, Lori and Carl at her graduation from medical school. They were all smiling, her arms wrapped around a little Carl who stood in front of her, while Rick had an arm around her and a fist pumped into the sky, Lori laughing next to all of them.  
Kate tugged the photo off of the door, taking the tape off before changing out of her scrubs and tucking the photo into the back pocket of her jeans. She pulled the elastic out of her long, dirty blonde hair and ran her fingers through it, trying to calm herself down. 

After one last deep breath, Kate pulled her old and worn down black sweatshirt over her t-shirt and headed out toward the waiting room to see if Shane had brought Lori and Carl back yet, or maybe see if Rick had gotten out of surgery.

Kate walked into the waiting room and immediately heard Lori’s voice yelling rather loudly at the poor receptionist. 

“My husband is back there, you need to tell me right now where he is and what is going on with him!” Lori was saying, giving the girl behind the counter a glare that would’ve wilted flowers. Shane was standing just behind Lori with Carl, looking like he wanted to intervene but also like he was a little amused by Lori scaring the crap out of the staff here. 

Kate steeled herself – she knew somewhere in the back of her mind that she needed to keep it together and be strong right now – and took a few quick steps toward Lori. 

“Lori-“ she said, grabbing the other woman’s arm. Lori immediately stopped talking, her wild brown eyes coming to focus on Kate’s face. 

“Kate,” she breathed, turning to grab her sister-in-law’s arms. “Tell me you saw him. How is he? Is he okay? Why aren’t you in scrubs, aren’t you helping?”

At the rapid fire questions, Kate took Lori’s hands and guided her to a chair in the waiting room so that she could have a moment to process before she tried to answer. Shane and Carl trailed slowly behind them.  
“I did see him, Lori,” Kate said in a steady voice. “I just saw him when he came in, though. They pulled me away before I got to see too much more. I can’t treat family, you know? So I can’t help. They sent me out here to be with you and Carl – but they told me that he’s in surgery. We’ll know more when he comes out, but it all depends on where he was hit and how much blood he lost before he came in. That’s all I know, but they should be done soon. They’ll come out here to talk to us when they can. But I’m sure that he’ll be fine. He’s too stubborn to not be.”

She watched Lori deflate as they talked and give a tiny nod before she fell back in her chair, seemingly trapped in her thoughts. With her somewhat calmer, Kate turned to Carl and Shane. Carl was standing with Shane’s hands on his shoulders, tears quietly streaming down his face. Kate felt a swell of pride for her nephew: he was a strong kid, obviously trying to hold it together for his mother. 

“Carl, c’mere,” she said lightly, reaching her hand out for him. The young boy seemed to immediately drop his defenses to jump into his aunts arms, sobbing quietly as she held him. “It’s okay, bud. Everything is gonna be okay.”

Kate looked up at Shane as she continued to whisper to Carl. He had a conflicting look on his face – almost grim, but like he was trying his damnedest to stay positive. Kate tried to offer him a reassuring smile as well, but she knew Shane could see right through her. He knew how bad this really was. 

So, with a nod of acknowledgment, they both put on brave faces for Rick’s family. Kate held tight to Carl, and Shane moved to sit next to Lori to comfort her. And they sat, the four of them, in the hospital waiting room that was so damn familiar to Kate waiting for her brother to walk right out there and greet them.

Only, that never did happen.


	2. One month later

“Shit,” Kate swore, tripping over herself as she tried to pull her boots on and walk out of her tent at the same time, landing with a thud on her back halfway through the flap.

Carl was laughing when she looked up. “Mom would say watch your language, Kate,” he said, adopting a comedic version of the same lecture tone that Lori could sometimes take. Kate just rolled her eyes, getting to her feet and fluffing Carl’s hair.

“Let’s just not tell anyone about that, then, yeah?” Kate said, waggling her eyebrows at him. “We got stuff to do, little man. Can’t waste the day!”

She glanced around the camp they were in, thinking back to how they had gotten here. It had been five weeks since Rick ended up in her hospital, finding himself in a coma. It had been a month since all hell broke loose.

*******

Shane had to drag her kicking and screaming from the hospital as the dead invaded it and took over.

He’d had to practically force her to abandon her brother and to go to Rick and Lori’s house, where he ordered all of them to pack what they could. The state of Georgia had issued what would be it’s final announcement: Leave home, get to the bigger cities. The military would be able to protect them there.

So, they packed up their lives, piled into Shane’s SUV and began the drive to Atlanta. They had made it most of the way there before traffic had come to a complete standstill.

There, in the dark of night, was the first true glimpse they got into their new world. Shane, having gotten irritated with the lack of movement (now having gone on long enough that Carl was sitting in the back of a stranger’s car, playing checkers with their daughter while Lori and Kate milled around) as well as the lack of information coming from the radio, had decided to walk ahead to find something, anything out.

“I’m gonna go up the road, see what I can see,” he grumbled, jumping out the car and slamming the door behind him.

“I’ll come with you,” Lori immediately replied, rushing to follow him. Kate stood silently by the trunk of the other car. She glanced up the road, thinking to herself that there probably wasn’t anything to see except more cars. Kate was starting to think Atlanta wasn’t going to be such a great option.

The woman whose daughter Carl was playing with, Carol, sheepishly offered Lori some food from her purse as she walked by. “Ed must’ve forgotten to pack those MRE’s,” she mumbled, looking down at the ground. “I found these in my purse.”

“It’s all right,” Lori said kindly, placing her hands on the woman’s and pushing the food back toward her. “Listen, Kate, can you keep an eye on Carl for a minute? Shane and I are gonna go and see if we can find someone that knows what’s going on.”

Kate just nodded at her sister-in-law. “Course. Get back soon, though, Lor. Not good to be separated now.”

Lori hummed some kind of noise of agreement, then followed quickly after Shane. Kate stood by Carl and watched them disappear among the myriad of cars flooding the road.

“Your dad’s pretty cool,” the little girl, named Sophia, said to Carl. Kate spun around at that, ready to jump in to save Carl from having to correct her, but he beat her to it.

“Shane? He isn’t my dad,” the kid said, all business. “My dad is dead.”

Pain struck through Kate’s heart at that – they didn’t _know_ , Rick had still been alive when Shane had dragged her out of there. Chances were, yes, he was dead – this is what Shane and Lori had chosen to believe. And Kate wasn’t about to get Carl’s hopes up in defiance of his mother’s wishes.

So she kept her mouth shut instead and placed a comforting hand on her nephew’s shoulder.

Then the explosions happened, and the next day or so became a blur. Shane and Lori had raced back, Lori running to bundle Carl into the car again, Shane stopping to quickly explain to Kate that Atlanta was gone, the military had dropped napalm in the streets. The only place for them to go now was up, up into the hills. Get away from the panicking people. Kate had quickly agreed – the less people, the better. She knew diseases, knew how they spread. This one was still very much a mystery, but it had the same fundamental principles. They needed to move, now.

Carol, having overhead, asked to accompany them to where ever they were going.

“Please,” she begged, grabbing Kate’s arm, eyeing the pistol that both she and Shane had on their belts. “You two seem to have a better handle on things than most. Let us come with you.”

Kate looked at Shane, their years of friendship allowing them to converse silently. After a moment, Shane gave a small nod, and quickly got into the car. Kate turned back to Carol.

“Follow us, go on,” she said. “Get in the car, let’s move.”

*******

That had been a full month ago. Since then, their little camp had grown to include many more than their two small families. A man named Dale had rolled up the hill in his massive RV with two blonde women inside, sisters Amy and Andrea – he had come across them on the road, their car broken down, and had refused to let them stay there alone. Then Glenn had shown up, having made a run for it from the highway when people started well and truly fighting amongst themselves, along with Jacqui, Jim, and T-Dog. The Morales family found them next, coming up the hill in a mini-van and with two small children of their own. As time went on, more and more people found their encampment. Overall, they had ended up with 30 in the camp, until the two Dixon brothers showed up, a little late to the game. That had been an interesting day.

*******

It had been two weeks since they’d seen anyone new – a routine had been established in their little camp. Shane had taken it upon himself to lead their merry band of survivors, and Kate, having been taught to shoot and fight by both Rick and Shane and also being the only one willing to call Shane out on his shit, had inadvertently become his right hand. It didn’t hurt that she tended to have better people skills than her gruff counterpart.

The Dixons had shown up seemingly out of nowhere, materializing on the path up to the camp. Kate had been sitting on top of the RV chatting with Dale and Glenn when Dale had pointed out the two not-so-nice looking dudes suddenly on the road.

Now, Kate didn’t like to jump to conclusions. She’d encountered many rough looking humans in the ER, and many of them had turned out to be absolutely wonderful people. But still, any who had come to their camp before had made a show of being seen, of offering themselves up, making sure they didn’t pose a threat. These men, particularly the older looking one, just eyed up the camp as they walked. The other one carried a crossbow. A _crossbow._ Kate shook her head incredulously – who in the hell actively carried a crossbow with them?

She whistled to Shane as she climbed swiftly down from the RV, already pulling her pistol out of the holster at her side. Shane seemed to think along the same lines as her: his gun was out of the holster, but still low to his side. These people could be a threat, they could not. They didn’t want to start off on the wrong foot.

But this was Merle Dixon, and Merle Dixon didn’t seem to have a right foot.

“Hey!” Shane called out as he and Kate got closer. “Hold up right there. Who are you guys?”

Shane was putting on his best ‘I’m going to intimidate you’ face on. Kate rolled her eyes slightly but stood her ground next to him as the older of the two men stepped forward slightly, his hands raised up in the air.

“Now, now, there’s no need to be so tense there, amigo,” he said, giving them a smile that made Kate uncomfortable. “Name’s Merle. Merle Dixon, and this righ’ here s’my baby brother. Say hi to the people, Daryl.”

For his part, the younger brother just grunted at Kate and Shane.

“Quite the talker he is, my baby bro,” Merle said, grinning even more. “Anywhose – we’s just lookin’ for a place to crash. Been all sorts a batshit crazy crap happenin’ and me n’ Daryl here’s just tryna get away from it all.”

He took a moment to scan the camp around him, a hungry look in his eyes that made Kate grip her gun just a little bit tighter. The younger brother, Daryl, still hadn’t really moved or shown much emotion, so Kate was focused nearly entirely on Mr. Big Talker. Merle finished his scan, his eyes landing on her. Kate stood just to the side and a bit behind Shane, gun slightly raised.

“Y’all look like you got it pretty good, here, now,” he said, continuing to eye her. “What do you think, baby girl? You look like you got it real good.”

Kate grunted, squeezing the gun in her hands until her knuckles were white. Shane took a defensive step forward, but the idiot just kept talking.

“How’s about it, sweet cheeks? What’s say you and Mr. Macho here let us stay in this sweet little camp a yours, then you and I can go ahead and get frisky in one of these here tents. You seem like you could do with a nice, old fashioned fu-“

Before he finished his sentence, Kate had enough. Shane had taken another step forward, but she beat him to the punch. Literally. Within seconds, she had struck Merle across the face and used his astonishment to grab his shoulders to give her more leverage to knee him in the balls. _Hard._ Kate shoved him to the ground, huffing out a breath as she did.

The group of campers who had gathered around them were staring, eyes wide as they took in what had just happened. Shane, on the other hand, just barked out a laugh, and patted her on the shoulder.

“I know we taught you how to fight, but damn, Kate,” he laughed.

Daryl, looking irritated, grabbed his brother’s shoulder and lifted him up off the ground.

“Look,” the younger brother said, speaking for the first time. “We don’ want no trouble. M’brother can be a dick, but we can help. We hunt, fish. Merle’s been in the military. We can be useful.”

A brief staring match ensued – in which Kate, while making direct eye contact with Daryl and trying hard as hell to get a read on him, simultaneously making sure he and his brother weren’t about to attack them, suddenly had a thought from earlier occur to her again.

“Why the fuck do you have a crossbow?” she blurted out, kinda, sorta still pointing her gun at his brother. Shane cast her an incredulous look – probably well deserved, she figured, the crossbow really wasn’t the _most_ important thing in that particular moment. Either way, though, with her random question, tension seemed to leak out of the situation. Daryl looked at her like she was crazy, Merle let out a huff of a laugh, even the others seemed to chuckle some.

“S’fer huntin,” Daryl grumbled out, looking somewhat sheepish. Or, as much as a man who seemed to show little to no emotion could. “S’quiet. Don’t scare none of the animals.”

Kate nodded, looking to Shane with a shrug. They could use the extra food, if these men were hunters like they said. Shane sighed, and nodded back, looking to the two men before them.

“Fine. Y’all stick around on a trial basis. Do your part, don’t cause no trouble, and we ain’t gonna have no issues, got it?” Shane said, sticking his hand out for Daryl to shake.

As the two men shook hands, Kate shoved her pistol back into it’s holster. “Seriously – either of y’all slip up, and that ain’t all the beating you’ll get,” she said, eyeing Merle as she spoke.

The man just grinned again, waggling his eyebrows at her. “You’s a feisty one. I like ‘em with a bit a spunk. Makes it more fun.”

Kate rolled her eyes, looking to Daryl again. He seemed to be the more reasonable one of the pair. “Keep your brother in check,” she grumbled to him, turning to go back to the RV.

*******

And so, their camp as it was today had been born. Despite some minor bumps in the road, the community of people had begun to run rather smoothly. Everyone had a job, everyone pulled their weight, and they had managed to dig out a relatively good existence here.

Kate smiled over her shoulder as Carl followed her away from her tent, turning to put the gray baseball cap she had brought from home on her head, threading her long hair through the hole at the back. She adjusted the gun holster at her side, brushing a miniscule amount of dirt off her jeans as she did. The jeans were dirty anyway – no amount of cleaning could really get rid of all of it.

When they reached the main area in front of the RV, Kate shoved Carl off toward his mother, Carol, and the other kids with a bright “Good luck!” about his school work that day. Carl rolled his eyes but went and sat at the table.

The day passed uneventfully. They had a supply run out right now, had sent more people out than usual, so the camp was slightly less lively than it was on any other given day. The group – Glenn, Jacqui, T-Dog, Andrea, Morales, and Merle, she went through the list again in her head – was expected back relatively soon. Daryl had left hunting and wasn’t expected back for a while yet. So, Kate spent the day sorting their food, scavenging around for any plants they could eat, and chatting with Dale and Jim around the RV.

That was when the uneventful day suddenly became eventful.

_“Hello? Hello? Can anybody hear my voice?”_

The entire camp went still, and Amy rushed to the old CB radio they had sitting in the middle of camp. Shane had set it up just in case, but they’d never really expected to hear anything from it.

“Hey? Hello?” Amy said frantically into the radio.

_“Can you hear my voice?”_

“Yes, I can hear you!” Amy tried again. “You’re coming through! Over.”

_“Anybody who reads, please respond. Broadcasting on emergency channel. We’ll be approaching Atlanta on highway 85. If anybody reads, please respond.”_

“We’re just outside the city,” Amy yelled into the radio. “Dammit! Hello? Hello?”

She spun round then, staring hopelessly at everyone who had gathered around her. Kate and Dale shook their heads soundlessly from where they had moved to be beside her. “He couldn’t hear me. I couldn’t warn him,” she told Dale sadly, stating a fact that all of them knew.

Kate frowned. Going down 85 was like going down a funnel straight to your death. Atlanta was lost long ago, and the poor man on the radio was probably expecting a grand welcome from the refugee center than never did exist. He was going to die holding onto hope that he was almost to safety.

“Try to raise him again,” Dale told Amy, reassuring her. Then he turned to face Shane. “C’mon, son. You know best how to work this thing.”

Shane nodded, stepping forward swiftly and slamming the hatchet he had in his hands down into the tree stump they had set the CB up on. “Hello, hello, is the person who called still on the air?” he said into the radio. “This is officer Shane Walsh, broadcasting to person unknown, please respond.”

A few tense moments passed, filled with the static coming from the radio, before Shane finally sighed. “He’s gone.”

Lori spoke first. “There are others. It’s not just us.”

Kate rolled her eyes a bit – they’d been over this before, had this exact argument. There were always gonna be others out there, and she knew Lori wanted to help everybody. She had a good heart. It just wasn’t a viable option anymore. The idea the two of them had come up with – a way to help, but not necessarily directly, was the best compromise they had come up with thus far, but they still hadn’t done anything about it.

“We knew there would be,” Shane answered her, trying to head off the argument the two of them had had many times already. “That’s why we left the CB on.”

“Lot of good its been doing,” Lori growled back. “Kate and I’ve been saying for a week, we ought to put signs up on 85 to warn people away from the city.”

“She’s right, Shane,” Kate interjected. “Just putting up signs wouldn’t waste too much time or energy. Not like we gotta bring everyone we run into back here, but folks got no idea what they’re headed into down there.”

Shane started to get up and walk away. “We don’t have enough time.”

“I think we need to make time,” Lori countered aggressively.

Shane ran a hand down his face, shaking his head slightly. “That is a luxury we cannot afford,” he said, looking around at the group as a whole. “We are surviving here. We are day to day.”

Dale chose to back him up, adding somewhat as an afterthought to Lori, “And who the hell do you propose we send?”

“Lori and I’ll go,” Kate said, inserting herself into the conversation once again. “Give us a car, it won’t take anymore than a day. We’ll get it done, we’ll be safe.”

Shane was shaking his head before she even finished talking. “No, no, no – you’re our only doctor, Kate, and one of our best fighters. I’m not having you leave camp undefended and uncared for,” he said, turning his gaze on Lori. “And you know nobody goes anywhere alone.”

Lori was silent, levelling an angry glare at the officer before her. She said nothing though, just dropping a sarcastic “Yes, sir,” as she walked away from the clearing. Carl jumped to follow after her, but Shane spun him around with a quiet word about Carl seeing to his Aunt Kate before he followed after Lori.

Kate threw an arm over his shoulders, watching Shane stalk off to find Lori with a good amount of suspicion. The two had gotten a lot closer since the fall of civilization as they knew it. Kate didn’t necessarily blame either of them – she wasn’t stupid, she was good at reading people and was fully aware of what they were doing and why Carl so often got pushed to her – her brother had been presumed dead for a while now, and it was probably nice to have that comfort in these times. But it didn’t mean that it didn’t sting, seeing Lori move on so quickly from Rick’s death.

“C’mon, bud,” she said, spinning Carl around to face her. “I bet I can beat you in a game of checkers. Loser has to help with the winner’s laundry.”

Carl’s face brightened up at the challenge, and they set off toward the picnic table.

The next day dawned much the same, only Kate took the time to tie up her boots before she tried to walk out of her tent so she didn’t fall directly on her ass first thing in the morning. She took a couple of extra moments to herself before heading out to the main area of camp, pulling out the picture she had shoved into her back pack as they’d left town. Kate sat back cross-legged on the bed, adjusting the slightly oversized black t-shirt she had on over her skinny jeans. The picture from her medical school graduation – her whole family smiling widely, Rick fist pumping into the air – she sat on the bed in front of her.

Her fingers threaded through her irritatingly straight, bordering on brown blonde hair, her mind wandering for a moment to the fact that it had gotten much longer. Kate hadn’t had Lori cut it, mostly because it hadn’t been a problem. It was constantly in a braid or a ponytail, tucked under her baseball cap. Maybe she’d have Lori cut it soon, she thought. For now though, it went into a tight braid as she let her eyes roam over the photograph, allowing herself a moment to miss her brother. When she was done with her hair, the photo went back into her bag, the hat went onto her head, and Kate went out of the tent to face the day.

The morning went smoothly. Kate spent it on top of the RV, giving Dale a break from being look out for a bit. She kept her eyes on the road up to the camp, scanning the outskirts of the camp she could see occasionally. Dale and Jim were working on the RV while she sat atop it. Tension had started to build in the camp as they awaited the safe return of the supply run team.

“Boy, that hose isn’t long for this world, is it?” she heard Dale grumble to Jim, who quietly agreed with him. Kate poked her head over the side, attempting to see into the engine from her vantage point. She was unsuccessful, and Dale chuckled at her movement. “Where the hell are we gonna find a replacement?”

“There are other cars – “ Kate was cut off before she could finish her thought, though, by a nervous and worried Amy.

“It’s late. They should’ve been back by now,” she said, pacing slightly.

“Worrying won’t make it better,” Dale replied soothingly, continuing to tinker with the engine of the RV.

Kate sighed, pulling herself more fully on top of the RV to return to her place in Dale’s lawn chair. She scanned the camp again, smiling as her gaze landed on Carl sitting and messing around with Shane and some rope. Then the radio did that thing again, where someone spoke through it.

_“Hello, base camp! Can anybody out there hear me? Base camp, this is T-Dog. Anybody hear me?”_

Kate jumped back to her feet, rushing to the edge of the RV as Dale jumped for the radio.

“Hello? Hello?” he called into it. “Reception’s bad on this end. Repeat, repeat!”

_“Shane, is that you?”_

Lori appeared now, running closer to the radio as silence enveloped the camp, everyone straining to hear what was being said over air waves.

_“We’re in some deep shit. We’re trapped in the department store.”_

Shane stepped forward now, clarifying what T-Dog was saying. “He said they’re trapped?”

_“There are geeks all over the place. Hundreds of ‘em. We’re surrounded.”_

Dale strained at the radio, “T-Dog, repeat that last, repeat!”

Then there was silence. It was deafening in the camp, and Kate was the only one who moved as she scrambled down from the top of the RV. She could sense a building fear and anger in those below her.

“He said the department store,” Lori repeated, looking around at the group, her eyes focusing on Shane.

“I heard it too,” Dale confirmed, nodding resolutely.

Lori was getting worked up, Kate could see it. “Shane?” Lori questioned. They were waiting to see what he would say. Kate was waiting to see if she was going to have to intervene, bracing herself for whatever was going to come next. These situations, she had learned, were unpredictable. No one acted rationally when their loved ones were at risk. This was true in her emergency room, and it still rang true in the apocalypse.

“No way. We do not go after them,” Shane said, his mind fully made up. “We do not risk the rest of the group. Y’all know that.”

Kate could practically feel the emotions ripple through the group around her – anger, acceptance, agreement, vehement denial, grief for those left to the walkers – as Shane’s words left his mouth. She shoved her own emotions back down, feeling a need to put others before herself. It was a habit she had developed in her work. Emotions were useless in an emergency surgery. She could be upset later, she had to deal with this.

“So we’re just gonna leave her there?” Amy accused, upset at the fate that Shane had just sentenced Andrea to. Shane tried to appease her, but Amy wouldn’t be stopped. “She volunteered to go to help the rest of us.”

“I know, and she knew the risks, right?” Shane tried to reason. “See, if she’s trapped, she’s gone. So we just have to deal with that. There’s nothing we can do.”

Even Kate was shocked at his response. Amy, for her part, only replied with a cool, “She’s my sister, you son of a bitch,” before she stormed off.

Kate shook her head at Shane as Lori rushed off after Amy. “Too far, Shane. You know that was too far.”

And with that, she trailed off after Lori to go find Amy so she could apologize for Shane’s thoughtless words.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Let me know your thoughts (:


	3. We meet again

The camp had resumed normal activity again. Tension was still high – Amy was still upset over Andrea being left out there, no effort being made to save her. But the campers had resumed their usual duties, moving around with purpose and continuing to go about their lives.

Jim was working to hang some noise-makers up to warn them in case of trespassers, alive or dead. The Morales kids were arguing over something or other, their mother telling them to cut it out. Carl sat in front of Lori getting his hair cut, fidgeting endlessly in her grasp. Shane was bribing him with frog-catching to get him to sit still. Kate stood off to the side a bit more, cutting up some more firewood for later that night as she listened to the conversations of those around her. And then, as many of their days seemed to be lately, the semi-calm was interrupted by something entirely out of the ordinary.

A blaring car alarm.

“The fuck?” Kate blurted out, earning her a small glare from Lori and a laugh from Carl. The kid was way too used to her accidentally cursing around him. Kate made a mental note that she should probably try a little harder at avoiding that.

“Talk to me, Dale!” Shane yelled out, leaping from his seat near Carl and hurrying toward where Dale sat atop the RV. Dale was looking through binoculars, scanning the area to the best of his ability.

“Can’t tell yet,” Dale replied, maintaining his calm demeanor. Amy jumped into the fray, questioning if it was the supply run group, before Dale let out a breath. “I’ll be damned.”

“What is it?” Amy demanded, quickly losing her patience as the rest of the group began to get fidgety.

“A stolen car is my guess,” Dale grumbled, and they all watched as none other than Glenn Rhee pulled up in a brightly colored muscle car, alarm whooping at top volume. “Holy crap, turn that damn thing off!”

Glenn popped out of the car, a huge, shit-eating grin still on his face from the rush of driving the fancy vehicle. At least that was Kate’s assumption – it was a damn nice car. “I don’t know how!” Glenn yelled back. Kate snickered a bit at his response.

Shane, attempting to keep his grip on his patience and failing rather miserably, tried to get Glenn’s attention. “Pop the hood, please. Pop the damn hood, please,” he said, and when Glenn still didn’t make any moves toward doing as Shane requested, “Pop the damn hood!”

“What?” Glenn finally acknowledged, turning his attention away from all of those who were trying to bombard him with questions. “Okay, okay. Yeah, yeah, I got it!”

He hurried back to the car, popping the hood open so that Shane could unhook the battery and shut the damn alarm off. Kate was laughing loudly – she loved Glenn dearly, he was one of her best friends here. The guy was usually a bright spot for Kate, and his antics never failed to make her smile. This, despite the threat that is may have posed to them, was no exception. Shane shot her a glare as Kate moved forward to squeeze Glenn’s shoulder to welcome him home as more questions were thrown around.

“Is she okay? Is she all right? Is she coming back?” Amy was rapid firing inquiries at Glenn, hyperfocused on the safety of her sister. When Glenn quickly replied an affirmative to all of her questions, she just kept going. “Why isn’t she with you? Where is she? She’s okay?”

“Yes!” Glenn burst out. “Yeah, fine. Everybody is. Well, Merle not so much.”

Shane had regained himself enough to start being his usual angry, aggressive self. Kate rolled her eyes a little as he started in on Glenn, standing her ground next to the younger man. “Are you crazy, driving this wailing bastard up here?” Shane yelled. “Are you trying to draw every walker for miles?”

“We’re fine, Shane,” Kate said calmly, stepping closer to get a little in between him and Glenn. “Give him a break, I’m sure he’s been through a lot.”

“You call being stupid fine?” Shane retorted, still angry.

“Well, the alarm was echoing all over these hills. Hard to pinpoint the source,” Dale supplied helpfully, earning himself a hell of a look from Shane. “I’m not arguing, I’m just saying.” He turned more to Glenn this time admonishing him lightly, saying, “It wouldn’t hurt you to think things through a little more carefully next time would it?”

Glenn looked down toward his feet sheepishly, nodding in response to Dale. “Sorry. Got a cool car.”

Kate smiled widely at him, leaning closer to his ear to whisper that it _was_ a really cool car. She would’ve been just as hyped up about it. Glenn grinned back at her, whispering back, “When we get the chance, Kate, you have to take it out with me. It’s awesome.”

Suddenly a noise sounded from the road again, another vehicle coming up the way. Glenn nodded to her to confirm that it was the others, that there was no need for alarm.

When the truck pulled up to a stop, the people inside began to file out. Andrea came first, Amy immediately running to her in a crashing hug. Morales came next and his children and wife ran to him in happiness. Kate turned to Carl in that moment, seeing him with an upset look on his face in Lori’s arms. Carl had been absurdly strong in the wake of Rick’s death and seeing him upset tugged at Kate’s heart. She moved quickly over to him, taking one of his hands and squeezing as his mother held him. Kate closed her eyes and dropped a hand on Lori’s shoulder as well, trying to keep her own sadness at bay as the happy greetings continued, tuning the voices around her out as the others in camp caught up on what had happened in Atlanta.

But her ears picked one voice out of the blend swarming through her ears. A voice she never thought she’d hear again. One that, while easing the pain she’d held in her heart since she had left that hospital, broke it all over again.

“Oh my god.”

_Rick._

Carl was out of her grasp in an instant, his screams of “Dad!” filling the camp, Lori not too far behind him. Kate opened her eyes slowly, her gaze falling on her brother, _her brother_ , alive and well and holding his son in a tearful embrace. She felt glued to the spot, just watching as Rick moved toward Lori, embracing her as well. Rick’s eyes fell on Shane, who looked both happy and incredibly torn. Shane mustered up a smile for his old partner, who grinned insanely back. Kate still didn’t move.

It was only when Rick finally pulled away slightly from his family, his eyes wandering around his new surroundings, that his gaze found her.

“Kate,” his voice cracked as it floated across the space, and that was what broke her. She sobbed as he moved toward her, pulling her into a tight hug. “Oh my god, Kate. You’re okay! Everyone’s okay.”

He sounded like he couldn’t believe it, and Kate could understand that. She sobbed into her brother’s sheriff uniform – _when the hell had he had time to find that and put it on?_ – as she wrapped her arms around him, nodding violently.

When she pulled back from him, looking into his face finally, their matching blue eyes meeting, she could only say one thing: “Welcome home, big brother.”

*******

The day passed in a happy haze from then on. Everyone was riding a high, having the supply group come back to them mostly in one piece. The seemingly miraculous appearance of Rick had made spirits soar even more.

The group had gathered around the campfire, as they had done so many nights before this one, listening as Rick tried to describe his journey to find them.

“Disoriented. I guess that comes closest. Disoriented,” Rick continued. “Fear, confusion… all those things, but disoriented comes closest.”

Kate shifted uncomfortably hearing him talk. She felt more and more guilty as he went on. She should’ve never left him in that hospital. She should’ve fought Shane harder, should’ve insisted he leave her behind with Rick.

“Words can be meager things,” Dale offered into the silence that followed Rick’s statement. “Sometimes they fall short.”

Rick nodded, thinking about where to restart his story. “I felt like I’d been ripped out of my life and put somewhere else. For a while I thought I was trapped in some coma dream, something I might not wake up from. Ever.”

Kate sighed, looking down at her hands. It was what all of them had felt in the beginning – that this was all some crazy nightmare that they couldn’t escape from. Many in the camp, despite having had their wits about them enough to find each other and make it here, had been hysterical over the outbreak. Kate had a bit of an edge, having been a trauma surgeon and quite a lot of practice at keeping her cool in insane situations. Still, though, she understood. This was an endless nightmare.

Carl’s voice is what broke her out of her thoughts. “Mom said you died.”

Kate winced and Lori moved to place a hand on Carl’s head, but the kid continued, “Kate never believed her, I could tell. But she said it too.”

Rick looked at his sister, a small smile playing on his lips at his son’s mention of her faith in him. Then he looked straight at Carl and said in that steady, calming drawl of his, “They had every reason to believe that. Don’t you ever doubt it.”

“When things started to get really bad, they said they were gonna medevac you and the other patients to Atlanta,” Lori explained quietly.

Kate nodded. “It never happened. All the evacs fell through, they never showed up. We were stuck trying to keep the dead out and the alive… alive,” she added to Lori’s story. “Whole hospital got overrun, though. Couldn’t stop it.”

Rick gave them both a weak smile. “I’m not surprised. That hospital looked like a mess.”

That was when Shane decided to jump back into the world of the speaking. Other that grumbling a few orders at them all – which had all been carried out more so under Kate’s direction once Shane went into sulking toddler mode – he hadn’t said much since Rick and the group from Atlanta came back. Kate was a little concerned. Shane had taken to managing the group without a second thought, her running back up most of the time or tamping him down a bit when his usual bravado got the best of him. This behavior was new to her, even in all the years she’d known him.

“Yeah, looks don’t deceive,” he grumbled. “I barely got them out, you know? Kate wouldn’t stop fighting me to stay.”

Rick was shaking his head, a slight, very sarcastic sounding laugh escaping him. “Again, I’m not surprised. You ever learn to listen to what’s best for you, Kay?”

Kate just shrugged, her face reddening a bit at the old nickname. “Just cause the dead are walking, doesn’t mean I’m gonna stop being a stubborn idiot ninety nine percent of the time.”

Rick laughed out loud – making Kate really, truly smile for once – and then sobered up and looked back to Shane. “I can’t tell you how grateful I am, though, Shane,” he said earnestly. “I can’t begin to express it.”

“There go those words, falling short again,” Dale interjected, ever the wise man. Kate cracked another smile. “Paltry things.”

Silence fell again, and for a moment, Kate allowed the feeling of happiness to wash over her. She constantly ran on full go – since they’d gotten here, she hasn’t really had time to just sit and think. Here, in this moment though, she allowed herself to listen to the group around her that she had gotten so close to, and now the addition of her brother’s voice to the background noise just made her even more relaxed.

Then, of course, it had to get ruined. Because when has she ever been able to relax for more than five seconds?

A log dropped onto the other fire, and she heard Shane get up off to the side. Kate groaned, opening her eyes and glaring over to the other fire. Ed. Of course it was Ed.

Ed was a dick. Kate really didn’t like Ed.

“Hey, Ed, you want to rethink that log?” Shane called lightly across the way.

Ed grunted, pulling his jacket closer around him. “It’s cold, man.”

Kate sighed, looking up toward the sky as she spoke in an exasperated tone. “We have rules, Ed. Cold don’t change that – we keep the fires low so we can’t be seen from far away. That’s how we do things.”

“I said it’s cold. You two should mind your own damn business for once,” Ed said lazily.

Kate quirked an eyebrow up at Shane. She really didn’t wanna have to deal with Ed tonight. Shane rolled his eyes back at her but seemed to understand what she meant. Kate wasn’t the one in charge here, she just helped out. Shane was the one to lay down the law. So, he got up and walked over to Ed.

She tuned out the quiet conversation he had with Ed, instead choosing to take in the faces of those around her. Rick and Lori watched Shane closely, Carl falling asleep in his father’s arms. Glenn was also watching Shane, but with much less interest. He seemed distracted, and if Kate knew him well enough, he was probably trying to work out when he can convince Shane to take the fancy-schmancy car back out. Kate made a mental note to get in on that ride.

She heard the log come off the fire, the stomping from Shane putting it out. She turned her head as a Carol’s voice began responding to Shane.

She eyed the woman carefully. Carol was one of the first people they’d come across, and she’d always been extraordinarily kind to them. Ed being her husband had only made Kate more anxious to look out for the older woman over the time they’d been together. Carol gave Shane a weak smile, reassuring Shane that she and her daughter, Sophia, were just fine. Shane nodded, and with a final word, got up to return to his seat.

Kate kept her eyes on Carol and Ed, watching carefully for any signs of aggression from the burly man when Dale piped up, interrupting the silence once again.

“Have any of you given any thought to Daryl Dixon?” Dale asked, looking around the circle. “He won’t be happy to hear his brother was left behind.”

 _Shit._ Kate had honestly kinda forgotten about the other Dixon in all the hecticness of the day. Since the Dixons had shown up in camp, she and Daryl had formed an uneasy peace – she wouldn’t call it a friendship, per say, but definitely… well. Kate would probably consider him a solid acquaintance, maybe. That is to say, they existed in the same space and had very lopsided conversations occasionally, and while she thought his brother was a massive bag of dicks, she didn’t hate him and didn’t want him to have to go through losing what was left of his family. _That was a long winded explanation, even to myself_ , Kate thought.

“I’ll tell him,” T-Dog was saying. “I dropped the key. It’s on me.”

Then her endlessly heroic brother piped up. “I cuffed him. That makes it mine.”

Kate was about to speak when Glenn beat her to it. “Guys, it’s not a competition,” he said, rolling his eyes a bit. Kate smiled at him, encouraging him to go on. “I don’t mean to bring race into this, but it might sound better coming from a white guy.”

Kate cocked her head a bit at that comment. Daryl himself had never been outwardly racist, she didn’t think. The dude certainly held some prejudices though, especially if his brother’s behavior was anything to go by. But really, Daryl didn’t talk enough for her to get a read on him.

“I did what I did,” T-Dog said, his face set in determination. “Hell if I’m gonna hide from him.”

 Kate offered T-Dog a smile. “We shouldn’t be playing the blame game here,” she said looking around the fire. “What happened, happened. None of you should be carrying this with you.”

There were nods around the fire at her words.

“We could lie,” Amy offered.

Angela shook her head, huffing out a breath. “Or we tell the truth. Merle was out of control, something had to be done or he’d have gotten every last one of us killed,” she said, swiveling around to look at Lori now. “Your husband did what was necessary. And if Merle got left behind, it isn’t anyone’s fault but Merle’s.”

There was another silence before Dale spoke up. The man had a way of making people think, and it was something Kate truly admired about him.

“And that’s what we tell Daryl? I don’t see a rational discussion to be had from that, do you?” he asked.

Kate shrugged again. Daryl was less volatile than Merle from what she had gleaned from the brother’s time here, but it didn’t mean that he wouldn’t go off on them either way. The man could have a bit of a temper.

“We’re gonna have our hands full either way when he gets back from his hunt,” Kate said, looking around the fire to Shane, T-Dog and Dale. “No matter how we approach it, the man lost his brother. That’s not something his gonna take lightly.”

T-Dog still had that determined look on his face. “I was scared, and I ran,” he said, staring deep into the fire. “I’m not ashamed of it.”

“We were all scared,” Andrea said quietly. “We all ran. What’s your point?”

“I stopped long enough to chain that door. Staircase is narrow. Maybe half a dozen geeks can squeeze against it at any one time. It’s not enough to break through that. Not that chain, not that padlock,” T-Dog said, finally looking up from the fire and looking around at everyone. “My point – Dixon is alive and he’s still up there, handcuffed on that roof. That’s on us.”

He shoved up from his seat then, suddenly angry, and stalked off.

“Well,” Kate said shortly, standing up as well before wiping her hands on her jeans. “Now seems like as good a time as any to call it a night. We’ll handle Daryl when we have to. In the meantime, I suggest sleep.”

A chorus of goodnights followed her as she made her way toward her tent. She heard Rick and Lori stand up and trail after her, and she turned to see her brother carrying Carl in his arms. Lori squeezed her shoulder and kept on walking, giving Kate a moment with her brother.

Rick smiled softly at her as he stopped by her side. “Kay,” he said quietly, trying not to disturb Carl. “How’re you doing?”

Kate smiled back, reaching up and taking the baseball hat off her head and running her hand through her long hair. “I’m okay, Rick. Really,” she replied. “This has all been crazy. But we have you back now. And I have a good feeling now. I don’t know how, or when, but I think this’ll work out.”

Rick reached over to give her a one armed hug, dropping a kiss on her forehead.

Kate smiled up at him, placing a hand on Carl’s head. “I’m really glad your crazy ass found a way back to us, Rick.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is so delayed - getting a doctorate degree doesn't mix well with finding time to write. Gimme a month and I'll have more of a break to focus on this. In the meantime, enjoy this chapter!!

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!
> 
> So, this is the first time I've ever written anything like this. Hopefully it's not too bad! I've had this idea for the character of Kate in my head for awhile, and I finally decided to do something about it. The chapters should get longer after this, but let me know what you think!
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
